late 14c., "rope for fastening an animal," not found in Old English, probably from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse tjoðr "tether," from Proto-Germanic *teudran (cognates: Danish tøir, Old Swedish tiuther, Swedish tjuder, Old Frisian tiader, Middle Dutch tuder, Dutch tuier "line, rope," Old High German zeotar "pole of a cart"), from PIE root *deu- "to fasten" + instrumentive suffix *-tro-. Figurative sense of "measure of one's limitations" is attested from 1570s.
tether (v.)
late 14c. (implied in tethering), "confine by a tether," originally of grazing animals, from tether (n.). Figurative use also from late 14c. Related: Tethered.
实用例句
1. She was jealous, humiliated, and emotionally at the end of her tether.
她既忌妒又感到屈辱，感情上已经到了崩溃的边缘。
来自柯林斯例句
2. I've reached the end of my tether.
我已经无计可施了。
来自柯林斯例句
3. The cow had broken its tether and was in the cornfield.
